P&F Industries: The Slenderman 500
by EDD17SP
Summary: A non-P&F Industries-canon Slenderman story I wrote for Halloween. Has nothing to do with racing except for the title. Can be read alone. Isabella is working late one stormy Halloween night and Slendy pays her a visit. When she doesn't answer her phone, Phineas, Ferb, and Steve head out to look for her.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, before anybody says anything, I know I've done Slenderman in this series before and I also know that Perry killed him in his previous appearance. But, come on, Slenderman never stops being scary…and trust me, he's gonna be even scarier at the end of this story.**

**Like I said, this is non-canon to the rest of the ****_P&F Industries _****series and you probably don't need to read the rest of the series to read this one. Just know this much:**

**1. Isabella is the engine builder for Monotreme Motorsports, a NASCAR Sprint Cup race team owned by Phineas and Ferb. She and Phineas are married.**

**2. Steve Marcis is the driver for said team and has been friends with the gang since 2014. For those of you who don't like OC's, don't worry, he's not in it for very long.**

**3. If this was canon, it would take place in 2019 between chapters 5 and 6 of episode #10.**

**That's all you have to know. Don't not read this story just because it's part of a series.**

**So anyway, here you go.**

_Part 1 - It was a dark and stormy night…_

Between the blasting stereo, the cranking of the ratchet, and the pounding of the rain on the roof, there wasn't even a slim chance that Isabella would have heard the ringing of her cell phone.

The AAA Texas 500 was in three days. The racecar Isabella was working on had to be ready to be loaded into the hauler in the morning, and, regardless of the fact that she was currently missing Candace and Jeremy's Halloween party, she could not leave until this car was finished. She and Phineas had had a little "adventure" with this car earlier in the month and Steve had forced the pair to completely disassemble and clean the Ford Fusion before he would feel comfortable even sitting in it. After many long hours of work, all that was left was to finish reinstalling the engine. She'd sent Phineas home about two hours ago.

"Are you sure?" he'd asked.

"Of course. Go get ready for the party and I'll meet up with you there when I'm done."

"Well, okay…"

Not long after Phineas left, the sky opened up. Rain came down in buckets and lightning sprouted across the sky. Isabella barely noticed. She tended to get wrapped up in her work.

She did notice when the stereo turned off, thought. Raising an eyebrow, she set down her ratchet and strolled over to the radio on the work bench. The little digital clock was still lit, so the battery wasn't dead. She pressed a few buttons but the music would not resume. The sudden silence in the engine shop was a very stark contrast from the blasting tunes.

A loud crash of thunder grabbed Isabella's attention. She looked at her watch and sighed. Phineas was used to her working long hours, but she had promised that this time she wouldn't be late. But, she absolutely had to finish this racecar. For a brief moment, she stared out the window toward the empty, pitch-dark parking lot.

_Won't be much trick-or-treating tonight. I kinda feel bad for all the little kids…_

Anything she might have been thinking suddenly washed from her mind as an echo-y boom reverberated through the race shop.

_What the heck was that?_

The boom came again. The only way Isabella could think to describe the sound was a very heavy footstep on sheet metal. It was definitely not thunder.

"Hello?" she called.

The lights blinked out.

"Great."

Isabella glanced toward the window again, hoping for some shred of moonlight to guide her. The boom echoed through the shop again. Then a flash of lightning lit up the blackness. Isabella caught the outline of a figure standing in the parking lot.

"Huh?"

She stared out the window until the next flash of lightning, but the parking lot was empty.

"Weird."

Isabella removed her cell phone from her pocket, hoping to use the screen as a flashlight. She briefly noticed that she had no reception before opening the door and moving out into the dark hallway. Just across from the engine shop was a utility closet where the breaker panel was located.

Shining her phone into the closet, Isabella pulled open the breaker box. None of the breakers had tripped.

"Weirder and weirder." She closed the panel. "Well, I guess it won't take long to finish tomorrow morning. Not much I can do in the dark."

As Isabella shut the closet, the boom returned again.

"Seriously, what the heck is that sound?"

She pulled open the door to the engine shop, returning for her keys. Outside the window, the lightning illuminated the silhouette of the figure again-and it was looking in the window.

Isabella gasped and backed against the door. The next flash revealed nothing.

"Okay, I've been working too long. I'm starting to hallucinate."

Then the boom echoed out. Louder. Closer. It was coming from the main shop. Isabella forced herself to look through the little window in the heavy door, standing to the side to see down the short hall out to the main shop floor. A flash, and there it was, standing between the racecars. Aside from the fact that it was extremely tall, the only detail Isabella could make out were the tentacles radiating from its back. A gasp escaped her lips.

She quickly locked the door and backed up, bracing herself against the racecar she'd been working on. "Hello?" she called out nervously.

_*Boom*…*Boom*…*BOOM*…_

"Hello?"

The door burst open. Isabella screamed.

Then everything went black.

**That is not the end. There is more.**

**For once, this story will actually have an update schedule. One chapter a week every Thursday until the terrifying conclusion on Halloween.**

**Next chapter, enter Phineas, Ferb, and Steve.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Part 2-The rain fell in torrents_

_*Ding-Dong* *Ding-Dong* *Ding-Dong Ding-Dong Ding-Dong Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Dong.*_

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Candace pulled open the door and was almost bowled over as Steve pushed his way out of the rain into the house and crashed into her. "Yow! Geez, Steve!"

The NASCAR driver ignored her. "It raining cats and dogs out there!"

Perry, dripping wet, slipped in through the door just before Candace could close it. "Ngrgrgrgrgr."

"And platypuses, apparently."

Candace scoffed, looking Steve up and down. He wore a DeWALT jacket made to look like Matt Kenseth's fire suit from 2007, black pants, and a DeWALT hat along with his ever-present dark sunglasses. "Steve. It's a _costume_ party. Where's your costume?"

"I am wearing a costume. I'm Matt Kenseth."

Candace folded her arms. "The only difference between this and your normal clothes is the fact that you're not wearing jeans."

"Hey, you're lucky I went this far. I don't do the whole Halloween costume-thing. What are you supposed to be, anyway?"

Candace examined her own costume. She had vampire teeth, a cheetah skin dress, bandage wrapped limbs, and angel wings on her back. "Um, I kinda ran out of original ideas, so I just cobbled together pieces of my previous costumes."

"So basically you're a cave-mum-pire? With wings?"

Candace strolled toward the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "Says the racecar driver dressed up as another racecar driver."

Steve's eyes drooped. "Okay, point taken."

"Hey, Steve!"

Phineas and Ferb entered the foyer, the former calling out the greeting. Phineas had his arm around Vanessa, who looked pretty much normal except for her vampire teeth.

"Hey, guys. How come you guys aren't in costume?"

"Yes, we are."

"No, you're-" It suddenly hit Steve. Phineas and Ferb were wearing each other's signature clothes. Ferb had dyed his hair red and Phineas, green. Steve covered his eyes. "Oh, don't tell me…"

"Yup," Phineas said brightly. "We've dressed up as each other." He motioned to Vanessa. "Even further completing the costume by trading our women for the evening."

"Which, strangely enough," Vanessa spoke up, "was Isabella's idea."

Steve looked at Ferb. "So, why isn't Ferb doing all the talking? And why is his arm lacking the presence of a certain Ford engine builder?"

"Because Isabella is not actually here. Yet." Phineas looked rather nervous.

"Then where is she?"

"As far I know, still at the race shop."

"Still?"

"Yeah. She told me to leave for the party around seven and said she'd catch up. All she had left was to install the engine."

Vanessa glanced at her watch. "And now, three hours later, she's nowhere to be found."

Phineas held up his cell phone. "I tried calling her, several times, actually. But it didn't even ring. Just went right to voicemail."

Steve looked quizzical. "I know she tends to get wrapped up in her work, but since when does she shut her phone off?"

Phineas shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm a little worried."

"Why don't you take a ride over there and check on her?" Vanessa suggested.

"Hmm…I probably should." He removed his arm from Vanessa's waist and headed toward the door. "I'll be back."

Ferb gave his girlfriend a quick kiss and followed his brother out the door.

"Ooh, I'll drive you there," Steve called after them, bringing up the rear.

"Why?"

"Because. Drifting in the rain is fun and completely terrifying in the pitch-dark."

"If you insist."

The three ran through the pouring rain and hopped into Steve's 1970 Ford Mustang. The engine roared to life on the first turn of the key and Steve floored the gas, sending a shower of water spewing from the rear tires as he peeled away from the curb. He steered toward the Monotreme Motorsports shop, sliding the car on the drenched pavement through every turn.

* * *

"Geez, I don't remember this road being so dark. I think it's dark enough that I can actually take off my sunglasses. For once." Steve let go of the shifter just long enough to remove the sunglasses from his eyes and toss them up onto the dashboard.

"Well, no wonder," Phineas said, pointing outside. "The streetlights are out."

"Huh."

Steve cranked the wheel hard to the left and slid the car into the parking lot of the Monotreme Motorsports race shop. He floored the gas, accelerating hard across the soaked blacktop, then spun the wheel and slammed on the brakes. The Mustang spun around 180 degrees and ended perfectly parked in the space closest to the front door.

"Modern self-parking cars have nothing on me."

Steve set the parking brake and was about to remove the key from the ignition when he noticed something.

"Um…Phineas? Are you sure Isabella is still here?" Steve asked. "The whole place is pitch black. There's no lights on."

"I don't know. Drive around back, see if her car is still there."

Releasing the parking brake, Steve shifted back to first gear and drove slowly around to the back of the building where the engine shop was located. Sure enough, Isabella's black-and-magenta Plymouth Barracuda was parked by the back door.

"Mm-hm." Steve parked next to the 'Cuda and this time turned off the engine. They climbed from the car into the pouring rain. Phineas jogged over and looked in through the engine shop window, cupping his hands around his eyes to see better.

"See anything?" Steve asked.

"No, it's too dark, I don't…wait…" Phineas squinted, then widened his eyes in terror. "I see Isabella! She's lying on the floor, and it looks like she's unconscious!"

They left the window and hurried over to the back door. Phineas grasped the handle and pulled. "It's locked! Why the heck is it locked?"

Steve gently nudged Phineas aside and slid his key into the slot in the door handle. When he turned it, the key snapped off in the lock. "Really?"

"Well," Ferb said slowly. "That's unfortunate."

"Come on!" Phineas called, taking off at a run. "Let's try the front door."

Steve and Ferb looked at each other. Without a word, they climbed back into the Mustang and Steve drove the car back around to the front instead of walking in the rain. They met Phineas at the glass vestibule that opened up into the lobby.

Phineas pulled on the door. "Locked! Why the hell is it locked?!" He began to tug on the door, hoping that it would suddenly spring open.

"Looks like we're gonna to have to break into our own building," Steve sighed.

Before Steve could even move, Phineas grabbed the door handle to steady himself and kicked the bottom of the pane of glass with his shoe. Several kicks later, the glass had failed to yield. "Ow…" he moaned. "That hurt my foot."

"Phineas, it's safety glass. You're not going to break it with your foot." Steve returned to the Mustang and opened the deck lid, pulled out a tire iron, and jogged back to the door, splashing through the deep puddles that were forming.

Phineas grabbed the tire iron and swung it with all his might. Nearly the entire pane of glass cracked in a pattern of tiny, tessellated, oblong, ovals, but it stayed in one piece. He pulled back to swing the iron again-

"Uh, Phineas?"

"What?"

Steve pointed at the glass door. "Look."

The cracks were disappearing. The glass was fixing itself.

"Wha-?"

In just a few seconds, the glass door was as good as new. Phineas tapped it with the knuckle of his middle finger. "That is…weird."

"That's not even possible!" Steve cried. "How the heck does glass fix itself?"

Phineas didn't answer. He swung the tire iron again. Once again, the glass shattered…and then the myriad of cracks faded. "Grrr!" Phineas hit the glass again and again, but each time the pane refused to break through.

"_O_kay," Steve said, taking the tire iron from Phineas's hand before he hurt himself. "New plan."

Steve fetched a flathead screwdriver from the glove compartment and used the tire iron as a hammer to remove the pins from the hinges. With a bit of wiggling, the three of them were able to pull the heavy door from its hanging.

"I'm coming, Isabella!" Phineas yelled, letting go of the door and sprinting into the race shop. Steve and Ferb nearly collapsed under the weight of the door and they struggled to hold onto it, being it was slippery from the rain. Finally they were able to set it down without crushing any toes. Then they followed Phineas.

Phineas ran through the lobby, through the double doors into the main shop, across the shop floor, weaving his way between racecars and tool boxes, down the short hallway, and yanked open the engine shop door. "Isabella!"

She lay on the other side of the racecar she'd been working on. He dropped to his knees beside her and lifted her head into his lap. "Isabella! Isabella, wake up!"

While Steve was across the hall in the closet, checking the breaker panel, Ferb arrived in the engine shop and crouched down next to Phineas.

"Ferb! How do we wake her up?" Phineas pleaded.

The Brit put a hand to his chin for a minute, then reached into his pocket and extracted a chocolate bar. He curled back the wrapper and wafted it under Isabella's nose.

"Ferb, be serious!"

"I am serious."

A few seconds later, Isabella's eyes slowly opened. "Mmm…wha? Chocolate?"

"Isabella," Phineas sighed with relief, leaning down and kissing his wife.

"Phineas…"

Ferb looked away and whistled while the couple had their moment.

Finally, they broke the kiss. "What happened, Isabella?" Phineas asked, helping her to her feet. All three of them stood. Isabella, feeling a bit weak, steadied herself by leaning against the side panel of the racecar.

"I…I'm not sure…I remember the lights going out…and I remember…" Isabella suddenly froze, her expression becoming scared as she recalled something. Before she could say anything, Steve entered from the other room.

"I guess we must be having a blackout because none of the breakers are tripped and I can't get the power back on," the racecar driver relayed. "What I can't figure out is why the emergency lights didn't come on."

"Guys, listen to me!" Isabella said loudly, fear evident in her voice. "We've gotta get out of here! I just remembered-"

She was cut off by a loud bang that echoed through the shop.

"What the heck was that?" Phineas wondered aloud.

"It sounded like a door being slammed," Steve said. He exited the engine shop, heading for the front of the building, and the others followed. When they'd exited the main shop and returned to the lobby, Steve abruptly stopped, shocked at what he saw.

The outside door had been rehung.

"That's impossible!" he cried.

"So is self-repairing glass," Phineas pointed out.

Isabella did not wish to stay in that building any longer than she had to. She pushed open the door to the vestibule and moved to open the outer door, but it refused to yield. She hit the door with her shoulder, throwing all her weight against the glass, but nothing happened. Stranger still, when she checked the deadbolt to make sure the door was unlocked, she found it as just that. The door was jammed…or held shut by some unseen force.

"Guys," she said, "we're trapped."

"That's not all," Ferb said, pointing to the wall opposite the doors.

The others looked. When the three men had entered the building, the wall had definitely been blank. Now, the wall had been defaced with the letters of a huge message. A flash of lightning illuminated the lobby just enough to read the words, scrawled in what appeared to be blood: **ALWAYS WATCHING**.

**Have you ever broken safety glass before? My dad, a general contractor, occasionally brings home big windows that he's replaced and has to dispose of. For those of you who have never tried to lift a big door or window, glass is ****_really_**** heavy. So, to make it easier to handle, we lay out a big tarp in the garage, lay the window on it, fold the tarp over the window (like an omelet), and hit it with a sledge hammer. The way it breaks is so cool! It doesn't spider-web like regular glass. The entire pane of glass pretty much turns into little sharp marbles. **

**The self-fixing glass is from the movie ****_The Haunted Mansion_****. I don't think that's a part of Slenderman lure, but it seemed to fit the tone.**

**Reviving someone with a chocolate bar is something I've seen in a couple of cartoons (Codename: Kids Next Door and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command) and always struck me as funny.**

**Anyway…Next chapter should be fairly long. This was the comedic-relief chapter, next one is the start of the actual…you know, action.**


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3-Except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in Danville that our scene lies)…

Isabella quickly grabbed onto Phineas's arm as they stared at the message on the wall. "Okay, I'm freaked out now," she said through gritted teeth.

Steve and Ferb managed a bit of courage and stepped closer to the wall. Steve reached out and felt the still dripping letters. Some of the red liquid came off on his finger tips. He sniffed it.

"Don't be too freaked out," he said. "It's not blood."

"Then what is it?" Isabella squeaked.

"Automotive paint. Don't you recognize the color? It's the same red that makes up half of our racecar's paint scheme."

"I'm not Django!" Isabella yelled, suddenly annoyed. "It looks like blood!"

"Okay, guys!" Phineas pleaded, trying to calm everyone down. "We gotta find a way out of here." He thought a moment. "Let's try the overhead door in the engine shop. Maybe we can get out that way."

"And if we can't, we can skip over to fabrication, grab a plasma cutter, and blast a hole through the door!" Steve said, a ridiculous cheesy grin on his face, just giddy at the thought of getting to cut his way through a steel overhead door with hot plasma.

"Umm, Steve? Don't you remember?" Phineas said. "We switched to water cutters last year."

Steve snapped his fingers. "Damn it."

They hurried back into the main shop. Three steps through the double doors, they stopped short.

"What the…?" Steve burst out.

The team had 24 total racecars. One was in the engine shop, one was already in the hauler, three were bare chassis, and four were not fully assembled or decaled yet. Chassis #257, which had been run last weekend at Martinsville, was in the "east wing" of the shop where the hauler backed up to the big overhead door, yet to be moved back into the shop to be rebuilt. The other 14, all race ready, were parked side by side-by-side in two rows, one row on each side of the double doors to the lobby, creating a walking isle down the center. Every racecar proudly displayed the 28 on the roof and both side panels.

And every single one of those number stickers, all 42 of them, had been defaced, X-ed out and then circled, with the same red paint.

"Okay…I'm a little more freaked out now," Steve said slowly.

"Anybody ready to run away screaming?" Ferb asked.

"I've been ready to run screaming since you guys got here!" Isabella practically yelled. "Can we please hurry up and get out of here?"

"Guys, calm down," Phineas urged as they began walking again. "We're gonna be just fine."

The words were no sooner out of Phineas's mouth, a loud noise echoed through the building. It sounded like a heavy footstep on sheet metal. _*Boom* _Isabella instantly recognized it. They froze in their tracks.

"What was that?" Phineas wondered aloud.

"I know what it was," Isabella said, her voice cracking. She shrank to the side and ducked behind one of the racecars. "It's _him_."

The sound came again. _*Boom*_

Phineas raised an eyebrow. "_Him_ who?"

_*Boom*_

Isabella cringed and whispered so quietly the others barely heard her. "Slenderman."

"Slenderman?" Steve questioned, not sure that he'd heard her correctly. "Didn't Perry kill him, like, four stories ago?"

*_Boom*_

"I don't know how, but he's here!"

"And, for the record, if it is him," Phineas said, "we are currently Perryless. We don't stand a chance."

_*Boom!*_

"Does that sound like it's getting closer?" Ferb asked.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Steve cried. "Call in your platypus!"

Phineas whipped out his phone and looked at the screen. "I can't. No service."

_*Boom!*_

"That is definitely getting closer," Ferb said.

"Okay, let's go to my office and try the landline." Steve began to lead the way back to the lobby. Only Ferb noticed that the sound had stopped.

Steve pulled open the door-

-and found himself face to face with Slenderman. One of his tentacles held a Dupont Automotive Finishes container.

Steve slammed the door shut. "RUN!" They turned and took off. "Head for the east wing!"

Phineas was in the lead, and he was the first to turn the corner. Slenderman was there waiting for him. He turned on his heel, almost falling as the monster reached for him. "Not this way!"

Isabella didn't need to be told twice. Now she lead them toward the fabrication shop, hoping to find something in there to fight with.

The rear wall of the main shop was just a divider that separated the fab shop from the rest of the building, connected by a wide open doorway. Isabella practically dove through-

-and nearly crashed into Slenderman.

"Yipe!" she shrieked, somehow managing to avoid the reaching tentacles.

Now it was Ferb's turn to lead. Down the short hallway to the engine shop, he pulled open the door. Thankfully it was empty. He soon saw why. After Steve charged past him into the engine shop, Ferb could see out onto the shop floor. Phineas had grabbed Isabella's arm and was practically dragging his wife across the floor as Slenderman chased after them. The monster didn't even look like it was trying. It just seemed to glide across the floor effortlessly.

"Close the door! Close the door!" Phineas yelled as they reached Ferb. He and Isabella ran through the doorway and Ferb pulled the heavy door closed. They could hear something collide with the other side of the door a second later.

The four crossed the room, placing the unfinished racecar between themselves and the door. They huddled together on the floor, their backs against the passenger side panel. They could hear Slenderman banging on the heavy steel door, trying to get in. They sat in silence for a long time, Isabella hanging onto Phineas as if her life depended on it. Eventually, the banging stopped, and the building became deathly quiet.

"What do you think that thing wants?" Isabella whispered, quaking in fear.

"I haven't the foggiest idea," Phineas replied.

"Maybe Slenderman's a Chevy guy."

Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella stared blankly at Steve in disbelief.

"What?"

"Dude, that is perhaps the stupidest thing you've ever said," Phineas told him.

"Is it really? I mean, Slenderman's a person, too. You know, sorta. Maybe he enjoys watching NASCAR when he isn't busy making people disappear."

"Yeah, and maybe on weekends he goes jogging with Klimpaloon!" Isabella snapped.

Steve ignored her. "It would make perfect sense that Slenderman would be a Jimmie Johnson fan. He's an evil, supernatural being with other-worldly power that steals people's souls. He and Slenderman are practically kin."

"Look, guys, we gotta find a way to-" Phineas's expression suddenly changed. "Heh-heh. It sounded like you were talking about Slenderman, but you were talking about Jimmie Johnson."

"He's probably pissed that we have a good chance of beating Johnson this year."

"Can we be serious for a minute?" Isabella practically shrieked. "I rather enjoying living and would like to find a way out of this before he kills us."

"Isabella's right." Phineas stood up. "Come on. Let's try the overhead door."

They all followed Phineas to the back of the shop where the overhead door opened up to the rear parking lot. Phineas bent down and undid the latch, then grabbed the handle and pulled. "Rrrgh! What do you know? It's stuck."

Ferb tried the back door, the same one that Steve's key had broken off in earlier. "This one, too."

"Looks like we're cutting our way out," Steve said with a shrug. "Isabella, whatdaya got for cutting through metal in here?"

Isabella grabbed her blow torch from the corner and handed it to Ferb. Within seconds, he had it fired up and was slicing through the steel.

"What the…?"

Ferb removed his face shield at Phineas's outburst and looked at the 6 inch line he'd just cut.

It was sealing back up, as if it had never been cut.

"Oh, come on!" Phineas yelled. "The glass I can understand. But he can fix steel, too?"

Steve stepped back. "We're not getting out this way. I'm going out there. Gonna try and talk to him."

Phineas squinted at him. "Are nuts or something?"

"I'm serious. Everybody always runs away from him. Maybe if I just walk right up to him and say, 'Hey Slendy, how's it going?' he'll talk to me and he'll let us go."

"Okay, first of all, Slenderman doesn't have a mouth. How is he gonna talk to you?"

"He's a supernatural entity, I'm sure he can figure something out."

"And secondly…he will kill you! You can't go out there!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Yes! The landline phones!"

"And I'm sure he's thought of that too! If we try and make it from here to the offices, he'll get us for sure!"

"Well, you going out there purposely looking for him sure isn't gonna do you any good either! I guarantee you he's not going to want to talk to you!"

"What makes you so sure?"

"For one thing, he kills people!" Phineas was shouting now, frustrated by Steve's logic. "He makes people disappear! Besides us, how many people have actually lived to tell of an encounter with him?"

"How should I know? I'm not a Slenderman expert! Who do you think I am? Irving?" Steve strode across the room and grabbed the door handle. "I have faith in people. I think if I just walk right up to him and greet him like a welcomed guest, he'll be reasonable."

Phineas was utterly baffled. "Have you been inhaling exhaust fumes or something? Because that plan is even stupider than your theory that Slenderman is a Jimmie Johnson fan."

"I take offense to that."

"Wait, Steve!" Isabella cried, pulling herself up from where she'd been sitting on the ground. "You can't! I won't let you!" She rushed for him and grabbed for his arm. He pushed her away.

"Let go of me! I'm going out there!" Before she or the brothers could do anything else, Steve ripped open the door, left the engine shop, and closed the door behind him.

"He's gonna die," Ferb said.

"Yes. Yes he is," Phineas replied grimly.

* * *

Steve found the hallway empty. Empty, and very dark. "Hello?" he called out, sounding as confident as possible. There was no answer.

He strolled casually out onto the shop floor. "Hello? Slenderman? Are you here?" He ducked into the fab shop. "Are you in here?" The room was void of life. "Guess not."

"Slennnnndyyyyyyy? Come out, come out, wherever you are." Returning to the main floor, something caught his eye. Here was where the new, unfinished Ford Fusion racecars were assembled and old ones were rebuilt. The three bare chassis were here as were two of the "in-progress" cars, which looked complete, though they were missing several internal components and the exteriors were blank sheet metal. The side of one of these cars looked like a knife had been taken to it to scratch a crude message into the steel.

Steve couldn't quite read what the message spelled out, so he stepped closer and waited for a flash of lightning to illuminate the words.

**DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU.**

"Really? Had to scratch that right into the side of my brand new racecar?" Steve said in disgust.

Still shaking his head, he turned around. Slenderman was standing so close Steve could have reached out and touched him. The monster's tentacles were poised to strike.

Managing to keep calm, Steve smiled nervously and greeted the monster as if he were a friend he had not seen in a long time. "Slendy! There ya are! What's goin' on, man?" He stuck out his hand to shake.

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"_

* * *

The blood curdling scream echoed though the building, reaching Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella in the engine shop. After the initial shock, the three huddled closer together.

"Steve…" Isabella whispered.

"Not that I'm not upset about the death of a friend," Phineas said, "but he was asking for it."

"Now what do we do?" Isabella asked.

Before Phineas could answer, there was a dull _thump_ against the door. It wasn't the sound of someone trying to get in. It sounded more like a small object being thrown against the door. They froze and listened intently, but heard nothing more.

"What was that?" Isabella whispered.

"I'll go check," Ferb offered.

"Be careful, bro."

Ferb rounded the racecar and hurried across the floor hunched over, as if afraid he would be spotted if he stood up straight. He peeked through the little square window in the door, but saw nothing. Bending down and moving beside the door, he carefully pulled it open.

Phineas and Isabella peeked around the racecar and watched Ferb extend an arm outside the door. When he retracted the limb and closed the door, he was holding something, but they couldn't tell what.

Ferb returned, crouched so low he was practically crawling.

"What is it?" Phineas asked.

Ferb held out the object he'd picked up. It was Steve's yellow, black and white DeWALT hat, now soaked and stained red with blood.

Isabella shuttered at the sight and squeezed Phineas's shoulder, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat. Phineas slowly took the hat from his brother. He turned it over.

On the underside of the brim, a sloppy message had been scrawled with what appeared to be a Sharpie, probably the one Steve always carried in his pocket. **CAN'T RUN.**

Phineas flung the hat away, wiping the blood off his hand onto a nearby rag. "Well, we're dead. Nice knowing you guys."

Isabella looked shocked. "You're going to give up that easily?"

Phineas shrugged. "What do you want me to do?"

"Gee, I don't know. You guys have only broken the laws of physics about a gagillion times since I've known you! We're in a room with lots of various tools, scrap metal and various engine components. Can't you build something to trap or kill that…that…_thing_?"

Phineas replied as calmly as he could. "Isabella, the last time we…well, Perry, anyway…killed Slenderman, he had lightsabers, plus skills that I do not possess."

"So build a lightsaber!" Isabella was exasperated.

"The technology required to build a lightsaber is _way_ beyond anything that's in this shop. And I don't suppose you just happen to have a Kaiburr crystal to power it laying around in here."

Isabella thought hard. "I have an unopened pack of D batteries."

"Okay…It's not a flashlight. D batteries aren't gonna cut it…and besides, I already told you, we don't have that kind of technology here anyway."

Isabella stared at him blankly for a moment. "So…phones?"

Phineas sighed. "Alright, maybe if we just run as fast as we can and don't stop we can make it to an office." He stood up, taking Isabella's hand and helping her up. Ferb stood behind him. "We'll head for Steve's office. I know for a fact that he's got one of those corded phones. 'Cause, you know, those phones don't need electricity, just a phone line. Hopefully, only the electricity is out, not the phone lines."

They headed over to the door, each step closer more hesitant than the last. Isabella clung to her husband's arm tightly. After what seemed like an eternity, they stood just a few feet in front of the door, any trace of confidence gone.

Phineas cleared his throat. "So…here we are…at the door."

They just stared at it, terrified by what they knew lurked somewhere beyond it.

"Okay, here's the plan," Phineas told them. "Just run. As fast as you can. Don't stop. Don't look around. Just look straight ahead and run. Got it?"

"Yes." Isabella was suddenly shaking. She had gone from terror, to sorrow, to blankly brave, and back to terror again in the span of about five minutes.

Phineas took her hand. "Hey, it's gonna be okay."

"I honestly do not believe you, Phineas."

"I honestly don't believe myself." He took hold of the door handle. "Okay, on the count of three. One…two…three!"

Phineas wrenched open the door and they took off.

They made it down the hallway into the main shop before Isabella looked away. She couldn't help it. A flash of lightning illuminated the room, reflecting off the smeared pool of blood on the floor near the unfinished racecars. It wasn't hard to figure out that the blood was Steve's, but there was no sign of the racer's body. Fortunately, Slenderman did not appear.

They kept running. Ferb was the fastest and reached the door to the lobby first. He held it open for Phineas and Isabella. By the time he followed himself, he'd already heard Isabella scream.

Phineas and Isabella had gone through the doors and turned right, to the hallway that led to Steve's office. And there stood Slenderman.

Ferb rushed in behind them just as the monster's tentacles struck. He grabbed them by the back of their shirts and pulled them out of the way.

"Come on!" he urged, letting go of them and turning toward the opposite hallway. "Candace's office!"

He streaked down the hall and pushed open the door to his older sister's office. Ferb didn't even see the others follow him in as he sort of spun around to close the door, but he heard footsteps run past. He slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Whew! That was close!" Isabella panted. She supported herself on the edge of Candace's desk.

She suddenly stopped and bolted upright. "Wait…" Her eyes shot open. "Where's Phineas?!"

Her question was answered by a scream that came from the hallway. _"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-"_

**And now we see why this story is non-canon to the rest of the ****_P&F Industries _****series: Main character deaths! Think of this as like ****_The Simpsons Tree House of Horror_****, only there's only one story instead of three.**

**This story would be way scarier as a visual because the timing would work better.**

**Tune in next week for the terrifying conclusion!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Quick note before we start here: the sword on Candace's wall was acquired in another story of mine entitled ****_Standing in a Wheat Field_****, which, of all the stories that I've written, is my very favorite. You should all go check it out. It's awesome!**

_Part 4-Rattling along the raceshop, and fiercely agitating the sanity of the girl trapped inside who struggled against the darkness._

"Oh my God! Phineas!" Isabella cried. She darted for the door, but Ferb blocked her path. He said nothing, he just gave her a knowing look.

Isabella slowly backed off. She knew what he meant. If she went out there, all she would find is a pool of blood and her own life would be in more danger. Phineas was gone. There was nothing they could do.

Isabella felt like her legs could not support her anymore. She collapsed to the floor and let the tears come freely.

Ferb was about to join her, both to comfort her and because he himself could use some consoling. But there were more pressing matters at hand. He moved to the desk and grabbed for the phone.

At this point, Ferb was not surprised when he didn't hear the dial tone. The phone line was dead too. He slammed the phone back into the cradle.

He was angry. Ferb almost wasn't sure what the emotion was that he was feeling because he didn't usually get angry. He wasn't even angry. He was enraged. Looking at him you almost wouldn't be able to tell aside from his narrowed eyes, but he knew he was furious.

Isabella lifted her head and opened her eyes just in time to see Ferb reaching for something on the wall behind Candace's desk. It was a sword, a Union Calvary Officer's saber from the Civil War. It was rusty, but it was still razor sharp.

"What are you doing?" Isabella asked through the tears.

Ferb gave the sword a few twirls, gaining a feel for its weight and balance. "We've been left with no choice. We must fight."

"How? That thing is too fast!"

"If Perry can beat it, so can I!"

Isabella didn't reply. She just leaned her head into her knees again, still sobbing. Ferb moved over to her and held out his hand, giving her a reassuring smile. She took hold of his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

"Isabella, it's going to be alright," Ferb told her. Isabella slowly looked at him. She could see the determination in Ferb's eyes. Isabella knew, if there was anyone who could kill Slenderman (besides Perry), it was Ferb.

"Maybe I should just barricade myself in here," she said solemnly. "I don't have a weapon and I'll just get in the way."

"No. We stick together." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Isabella wiped the tears from her eyes. "You're right, Ferb. We have to stick together."

Ferb nodded. "Let's go."

He pulled her to the door, letting go of her hand so he could unlock and open it.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

"Here we go."

Ferb pulled open the door.

Seemingly from nowhere, several black tentacles shot from the dark hallway, wrapped around Ferb's body, and pulled him into the hall.

Ferb dropped the sword and grabbed onto the door with both hands, but it did no good. As the tentacles pulled him away, the door was pulled closed. It slammed shut before Isabella even had a chance to scream.

Outside in the hall, there was a shredding sound and a snapping. Liquid could be heard splashing to the floor.

Then silence.

Isabella stared in shock at the door, eyes wide, mouth agape. When finally she realized what had just happened, she managed to get out, "Aaaaahhhhhhhh…" It wasn't so much a scream as an elongated shocked gasp. "What the heck was that?!" she yelled louder.

_Oh, my God. I've lost Phineas, Ferb, and Steve. What am I gonna do?!_

"Calm down, girl!" she said to herself. "You're smarter than that thing! You can figure this out! Come on! Think!" Somewhere in her subconscious, a memory was triggered. She closed her eyes and thought back to that day, the day of Irving's lecture…

* * *

_"…and remember: If you ever find yourself trapped in a building with the Slenderman, there will always be at least one way out. You just have to figure out which exit is open before he gets you, because rest assured, he will do whatever he can to keep you away from it."_

Everyone stared blankly at Irving. He was standing in the middle of the race shop, speaking loudly so that everyone could hear him. About twenty _minutes earlier, he had called for everyone's attention and began relaying all of his knowledge of the supernatural being that they had nearly been killed by a few years ago…or a century ago, depending on your interpretation of time travel._

_Candace cleared her throat. "Um, that's great Irving. But…why the heck did you just tell us all that?"_

_"Because Buford asked me to," he replied with a shrug._

_"No, I didn't, dipstick," Buford growled._

_"Yes, you did. You said, 'Irving tell everyone what you found out about the Slenderman."_

_"No, I said, 'Irving, tell everyone what you found out about the __**broken spindle, man**__.' You know, the one that broke during the Phoenix race? I asked you to run some simulations and figure out why it happened? Remember?" _

_Irving blushed. "Oh."_

* * *

Isabella opened her eyes. "There's always one way out. One way…the front door was locked, both doors in the engine shop doors were jinxed, that means there's only one way we didn't try: the overhead door in the east wing."

Plucking up courage, she bent down and picked up the sword. Then, she slowly opened the door, peaking around it to make sure the hallway was empty.

There was no sign of life, but there was obvious signs death. A massive puddle of blood, and it was splashed everywhere. And, as if the gruesome sight of what had once been Ferb wasn't enough, another message had been written in the blood: **SLOW PAINFUL DEATH**

Gagging, Isabella slipped silent out the door, sidestepping around the puddle as best she could and, holding the sword out in front of her defensively, Isabella crept through the lobby, glancing back over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure Slenderman wasn't sneaking up behind her. Forcing herself not to look at the giant puddle of blood on the floor that had once been Phineas, she pushed open the door into the shop just a crack and peeked behind it, but found that the coast was clear.

One step at a time, with almost painful slowness and trying not to make a sound, Isabella made her way past the defaced racecars and through the shop. She was beginning to feel achy and her breathing was becoming shallow. At first she thought she was becoming sick, but she remembered "Slender-Sickness" as something else that Irving had said about Slenderman. Why it was only now happening, she knew not. She just pushed on, heading for the east wing, shaking with fear.

The hallway that led to the east wing seemed longer than she remembered it. Maybe it was just because she was walking so slowly, or maybe it was because she suddenly had tunnel vision. The way the edges of her sight had become dark scared her, as she now had no peripheral vision. It would not be difficult to sneak up on her.

She reached the end where the hallway opened up into another large room. The rear wall was taken up by a massive overhead door. There was a sort of organized chaos to the contents of this room, which was made up of a few tool boxes, spare parts, and the last of the team's 24 racecars. Unlike the other cars, which were all pristine, this one was fairly beat up, for it had been run at Martinsville Speedway the week before and hadn't been moved into the main shop for a rebuild yet. Steve had been spun out and been hit by several other cars, but the speeds at Martinsville in the corners are relatively slow, and though a street car would have been totaled, the car held up and Steve was able to finish the race, recovering to a fourth place finish. Still, the Ford Fusion was in rough shape.

Isabella hesitated before stepping into the room, or rather, before stepping out of the hallway. The open space felt much less secure than the slight restrictions of the hallway. In the east wing, she felt exposed, and endangered. And as she was thinking this, Isabella realized that it had been some time since she had checked behind her.

The hallway was too dark to see more than a few feet behind her. It didn't matter. A perfectly timed flash of lightning lit the hall and Isabella could see Slenderman, watching her, at the far opposite end of the hall.

She gasped and ran into the east wing, racing for overhead door. Now panicking, Isabella forgot about the sword and dropped to her knees, pulling as hard as she could on the door handle.

It wouldn't open.

Isabella gave up on that. Another flash of lightning revealed Slenderman's shadow in the hall, moving closer. He was coming, and she needed to escape.

Or else, she needed to hide.

She quickly scanned the room, searching desperately for someplace that would let her allude the monster that stalked her. Her eyes landed on the somewhat mangled racecar across the room.

Isabella ran, refusing to look down the hallway as she passed it, knowing all too well what was coming for her. Quickly and quietly, she climbed through the driver's window into the racecar, sinking down into the carbon fiber seat and making herself as small as possible. She shook uncontrollably, and her head pounded. She could see the shadow getting closer. She shuddered.

But then, the cobwebs in Isabella's head cleared. She noticed something. Something that could save her. The overhead door. It was locked, or held shut by some supernatural force, she knew that. They'd tried cutting through the metal, they'd tried smashing through glass windows and doors…but maybe those methods were just too slow. Maybe something quicker, and with more force.

The other cars in the shop would do her no good, for many were unfinished, and none were fueled. This one, though, had come straight from the track, so there was a little fuel left in the tank. She could smash her way through the thin metal door with a 900 horsepower wrecking ball.

Isabella reached over to the switch panel and flicked on the ignition switch, and then held the START switch up with her index finger. The starter cranked the engine, but it didn't turn over. It could have been due to the sustained crash damage, or maybe Slenderman's presence was messing with the electronics of the EFI computer. Whatever it was, the car cranked, and cranked, and cranked, but the battered Fusion refused to start.

"Come on, come on!" Isabella begged the racecar as the starter spun. She looked toward the hallway again. She could see the shadow of every tentacle snaking across the walls into the east wing. He was coming. "Come on, come on, come on!"

And there he was. Slenderman emerged from the hall. He didn't search for her. He didn't have to. The starter echoed loudly off the bare walls and ceiling, revealing her location. He glided across the floor toward her slowly, and it seemed deliberate, like he was trying to build suspense.

The racecar still refused to start. Isabella's panic broke free in a desperate shout. "Come on, ya bucket of bolts!" And she slammed her fist against the dash. With a deafening growl, the engine roared to life. "Huh. I didn't think that would actually work."

Slenderman had nearly reached her. Isabella jammed the stick into first gear and floored the gas pedal. The rear tires spun on the polished concrete floor, but never the less, the Fusion shot forward. Isabella aimed straight for the overhead garage door, not caring that a tentacled monster stood in her path. And he made no attempt to get out of the way as the Ford plowed into him.

Isabella heard the front valence tear away and felt the car bounce as she ran over Slenderman, but still held the pedal to the floor, wanting desperately to get away. The door tore away from its track as the car smashed into it and the Ford launched outside into the rain, the engine stalling out from the jolt. It rolled to the middle of the parking lot before it lost its momentum and stopped, the overhead door now wedged against the front bumper and dragging on the pavement.

The engine silent, the rain drummed heavily against the thin sheet metal roof. The sound was strangely calming, and Isabella sat for a moment in the seat, catching her breath, for she had forgotten to breathe during her breakout. Her sickly feelings and headache subsided, and her vision returned.

And then her heavy breathing became shallow. She climbed from the battered racecar and sank to the ground, leaning her back against the side panel, her head in her knees. Her tears mixed with the raindrops as the reality of her friends' deaths hit her. Steve, Ferb, and mostly Phineas, her husband, the only one she'd ever loved. The rain was cold, but Isabella didn't care. She sat there on the ground for a long time.

_*Boom*_

Her head shot up. She knew that sound.

_*Boom*_

She hadn't killed it. She needed to get away.

_*Boom!*_

Isabella stood up-

-and saw the shadow behind her in a flash of lightning.

Slenderman was standing on top of the racecar.

Isabella screamed as tentacles wrapped around her arms, her legs, her waist, restraining her. Slenderman lifted her up into the air, bringing her up to his level. "NO! NO! NO!" Isabella cried out. "Let me go!"

Slenderman did not answer. Holding her right in front of his face-less head, two more tentacles tapped against the crown of Isabella's skull. To the girl, they felt like they were covered with tiny, invisible spikes. The tentacles pressed against her cranium, harder and harder.

Isabella screamed louder as intense pain shot through her head. The tentacles burrowed into her cranium, right through her skull and into her brain. Somehow still alive, Isabella could feel the tentacles wriggling down into the back of her throat, through her esophagus, down into her rib cage and ending around her intestines. Then they pushed apart, and Isabella's screaming came to an abrupt end and Slenderman ripped the girl in half, splitting her right along the vertical axis of her body.

And then he merely dropped the two halves of Isabella to the ground, where they splashed on the drenched asphalt. Slenderman stood unmoving for a moment, his tentacles wriggling silently in the darkness.

And then with a sudden *Pop!* his head fell off. Struggling could be heard from within the body, and then something forced its way through the empty neck. It was a new head, but this one was complete, from the long spindly nose to the buzz cut orange hair. There was even a pair of round, magenta eyeglasses perched on the face.

"Happy Halloween, everybody!" Irving said cheerfully. And then the creepiest character of them all threw back his head and cackled an evil laugh. "BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA-_*Cough! Cough! Hack!* _Sorry, I swallowed a rain drop. That's the problem with laughing manically in a storm. Where was I? Oh, yeah. BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

**The End**

**I really like Irving, but it would seem that a lot of people think he's creepy, so I decided this was the scariest way I could end the story.**

**Anyway, Happy Halloween!**

**Sincerely, EDD17SP**


End file.
